'Green' Was The Theme At AIA Convention

"From affordable housing to mixed-use developments, architects, designers and other experts explored the benefits of sustainable design toward advancing the role of multi-housing communities in several panel discussions. Approximately 21,640 registrants attended the convention, hosted in a city known for its rich heritage in building conservation and adaptive reuse.

Rapidly evolving from a niche topic just three to four years ago, green affordable housing has become incorporated into the mainstream. Sustainable low-market housing reduces energy bills by up to 30 percent, eliminates the presence of toxic building materials, provides improved ventilation, and creates a link between housing developments and their surrounding community. Top green building researchers and architects concurred that sustainable design for affordable housing can revitalize communities throughout the U.S.

"Developers are hungry to know how green can work for them," observed Bill Roschen, AIA, co-principal of Los Angeles-based Roschen Van Cleve Architects, at the "Greening Affordable Housing: New Innovations from the Field" seminar. "We need to find more innovative ways to push the creative envelope on sustainable affordable housing to encourage more developers.""